Environmental Control System (ECS) ducting has typically been fabricated from rigid fiberglass, metallic, or thermosetting plastic tubes or manifolds. As an example, typical ECS ducting may generally be prefabricated in a rigid design/configuration which conforms to the shape and/or features of the flight vehicle in which the ducting is to be incorporated. In other words, to get the ducting of conventional environmental control systems to conform to the features and/or shape of the flight vehicle, one or more of bending, design-specific cast molding, and additional tooling have typically been required. For example, in the case where the environmental control system ducting is metallic, various tools such as tubing benders may be required to “pin” or shape the metallic ducting to conform to and/or bend/wind around various components of the flight vehicle. In addition, it is common for the use of metallic ducting to require that adjacent ducting components be welded together. In the case where the environmental control system ducting is made of rigid fiberglass and/or thermosetting plastic, design-specific mandrels may be required to shape/contour particular components of the ECS ducting to comply with the pre-designed routing of the environmental control system. In addition, incorporating ancillary features such as one or more of diffusers (components that direct gases through the ECS), risers (tubing that extends out from the primary ducting and is directed upwardly), and sinkers (tubing that extends out from the primary ducting and is directed downwardly in a direction at least generally opposite to that of the risers) into conventional environmental control systems has further complicated these systems by requiring yet more bending, cast molding, and/or tooling, which can add additional expense and/or time to the fabrication process.
Further, since the ECS ducting and ancillary features of conventional environmental control systems are generally structurally inflexible, conventional environmental control systems generally require extensive nonrecurring tooling to fabricate replacement ducting in the event that various components of the flight vehicle are rebuilt/modified. For example, in the case where the ECS ducting is made of fiberglass and/or thermosetting plastic, the design-specific mandrels may need to be reconfigured (in the best case scenario) or scrapped and replaced (in the worst case scenario) to enable fabrication of appropriate replacement ECS ducting that conforms to the various componential changes made to the flight vehicle. In the event that use of a first flight vehicle is abandoned in exchange for use of a second flight vehicle, a conventional environmental control system that was installed in the first flight vehicle may have to be discarded or, again, require extensive nonrecurring tooling to comply with the structural arrangement of the second flight vehicle. In any event, the fabrication of replacement ducting, as well as the manufacture of replacement tooling required to fabricate and/or augment the replacement ducting may be expensive and/or time-consuming.
Yet further, since conventional ECS ducting is generally quite high in mass (a detriment in and of itself), complicated and/or heavy attachment mechanisms may be necessary to mount and/or support the ECS ducting in the flight vehicle. When mounted to an inner skin of the flight vehicle (e.g., such as a composite structure), these attachment mechanisms may require that integral inserts or bushings be mounted into the inner skin of the flight vehicle. Such invasive mechanisms for mounting the ducting may add yet additional expense and labor to the use of such conventional environmental control systems.